History Theatre / Wit

A 1999 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Margaret Edson that was later adapted to television by MikeNichols and Creator/EmmaThompson, ''Wit'' is about Vivian Bearing, an English professor who specializes in the metaphysical poetry of John Donne, who finds out she has an aggressive case of ovarian cancer. The story depicts her struggles with her illness and chemotherapy, as well as dealing with hospital bureaucracy. She spends much of the story [[BreakingTheFourthWall discussing the situation with the audience]], reflecting on her life and the choices she's made, as well as the poetry she's studied and how it relates to her current condition.

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A 1999 Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Margaret Edson that was later adapted to television by MikeNichols Creator/MikeNichols and Creator/EmmaThompson, ''Wit'' is about Vivian Bearing, an English professor who specializes in the metaphysical poetry of John Donne, who finds out she has an aggressive case of ovarian cancer. The story depicts her struggles with her illness and chemotherapy, as well as dealing with hospital bureaucracy. She spends much of the story [[BreakingTheFourthWall discussing the situation with the audience]], reflecting on her life and the choices she's made, as well as the poetry she's studied and how it relates to her current condition.

* BechdelTest: Passes easily. Although it's an interesting case since the amount of times it passes may technically change depending on the gender of the viewer, given that Vivian talks to the audience (whether live or through the camera) directly about a number of subjects other than men.

* [[spoiler:GoodNightSweetPrince: Professor Ashford quotes the second half of this line when she says goodbye to Vivian, despite her not actually being dead at that point.]]

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* [[spoiler:GoodNightSweetPrince: Professor GoodNightSweetPrince: [[spoiler:Professor Ashford quotes the second half of this line when she says goodbye to Vivian, despite her not actually being dead at that point.]]

* ActingForTwo: In the stage version, Kelekian and Vivian's dad are played by the same actor, possibly as a [[RuleOfSymbolism comment]] on the inherently paternalistic relationship between doctors and patients.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece / ScienceMarchesOn: The play was originally performed in 1999 and as a result, Vivian's fate is completely inexorable. Had it been set in the present day, Vivian probably would have been able to get tested for the [[http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/breast-cancer/about/risks/breast-cancer-genes#options faulty breast cancer gene]], which has also been linked to ovarian cancer. Her mum's death would have been a red flag. It still might not have been enough to [[spoiler:save her life or]] stop her from becoming ill, but she would have at least had a warning and would have been able to take some preventative steps.

* ArcWords: "Death "And death, thou shalt die". Also "soporific." * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted. Vivian's appearance goes gradually downhill as she suffers more and more from her cancer. Notably, her hair [[BaldWoman is among the first of her features to go]].

* BechdelTest: Passes easily. Although it's an interesting case since the amount of times it passes may technically change depending on the gender of the viewer, given that Vivian talks to the camera directly about a number of subjects other than men.

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* BechdelTest: Passes easily. Although it's an interesting case since the amount of times it passes may technically change depending on the gender of the viewer, given that Vivian talks to the camera audience (whether live or through the camera) directly about a number of subjects other than men.

* MagicalNegro: Susie comes close, both as a nurse who's almost too angelic, and as the one major character whose background isn't explored.* MissingMum: While we at least meet Vivian's dad, any details about her mum are conspicuously absent, despite her living for twenty years longer than him and having [[spoiler:died]] in roughly the same manner as Vivian.

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* MagicalNegro: In the film, Susie (played by Audra Mc Donald) comes close, both as a nurse who's almost too angelic, and as the one major character whose background isn't explored.* MissingMum: While we at least meet Vivian's dad, any details about her mum are conspicuously absent, despite her living for twenty years longer than him and having [[spoiler:died]] [[spoiler:died, at least in the film,]] in roughly the same manner as Vivian.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Emma Thompson sticks with her natural English accent. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since academics tend to develop odd accents from working and living abroad for long periods of time.

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* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Emma Thompson in the film sticks with her natural English accent. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since academics tend to develop odd accents from working and living abroad for long periods of time.

* ShownTheirWork: Towards the end of the play, Vivian displays what is colloquially known as the [[spoiler:"O Sign", where morbidity is indicated by the patient being slack-jawed to the point of their mouth forming an "O" shape.]]

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* ShownTheirWork: Towards the end of the play, film, Vivian displays what is colloquially known as the [[spoiler:"O Sign", where morbidity is indicated by the patient being slack-jawed to the point of their mouth forming an "O" shape.]]

* TookALevelInKindness: Vivian realises that she shouldn't have been so tough on her students but, apart from being able to offer Susie half of her popsicle, she is too sick to act on her change of heart.

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* TookALevelInKindness: Vivian realises realizes that she shouldn't have been so tough on her students but, apart from being able to offer Susie half of her popsicle, she is too sick to act on her change of heart.

* TearJerker: When Professor Ashcroft comes to visit Vivian,[[spoiler: and instead of quoting Donne to her on her deathbed, she reads her a children's bedtime story.]]* TooDumbToFool: Though probably the least educated character in a movie populated with geniuses, Susie is perhaps the one who understands life, death, and human dignity better than anyone else there (certainly her colleagues). Contrast with Jason's TooCleverByHalf

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